if you play for years and have used in a specific keybind order it is difficult..for example my bar look like this

Q E R F T G C

so when I quickly look on my bar to check for cooldowns and see the second bar ability I immediately know is my E keybind. When I see the fourth it is the F key..through years I have trained on this to be quite fast, I can't just make my bar keybinds E F Q T C R...

Now comes the second part. In all my previous games I categorize abilities and bind them to specific keys. For example R is usually my spam aoe, F is my Blink/charge kind of spells, T is always my stun/Daze e.t.c. So if it happens in GW2 the second weapon skill to be a ground target AOE it is a problem.

1.I am not used to hit E for a target aoe ability, this is my hard-hit single attack
2.I cannot rebind abilities because my eyes, when look at by action-bars can automatically identify every keybind by its position on the bars...
3.It gets worse because on weapon swap you have to do with different type of abilities again. So lets say I play Elementalist and I finally get used that my R keybind is not an AOE as used to be on other MMOs I play for years and it is a single target spell. Then I switch to Air for example and now R is AOE again...

I don't know if you understand what I want to say, but it really would be very very helpful if you could move skills on action - bar. I really don't know why you shouldn't be able to do this, is very basic UI customization

This system works fine where you have a large amount of skills and a large amount of extra bars so you can have everything out everywhere without having to move anything around on the fly.

GW2 has 10 fixed slots with the first 5 flipping depending on your weapon load out. Your first 5 skills may be changing between defensive to aoe to single target in the middle of a battle making it difficult to always have a particular key associated with a set role.

I fear you may have to just get used to a new system here. I have a similar experience where I try and have a universal set of keys across all chars/games. I got used to GW2 pretty quickly though.

The idea of moving stuff around gets a little weird when you switch weapon sets, or class attunements. Say, for example, you're wearing a staff and you want to switch your 4th skill to the second slot. What happens when you switch to a second weapon set that uses 2 different 1 handed weapons? Does the action bar become mixed up with the first ability from your offhand switching to the second slot and the second ability of your main hand switching to your fourth slot? Or does each weapon combination have it's own "profile"? With elementalists, you're looking at 20 or so "profiles" if thats the case, warriors maybe more since they can use so many different weapon combinations.

I'm sure this is something they tested with users, and found that it's not as difficult to get used to as people imagine.

It wouldnt be any different than say a WoW druid shape shifting. Lets consider druid without form is one weapon and going into laser chicken mode is your second weapon. Each has its own different hotbar that doesnt affect the other. Just like a rogue going into stealth. So weapon swapping wouldnt affect where your skills are placed at all unless you wanna move those around as well.

---------- Post added 2012-08-24 at 06:18 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Qatol

Some of us use the default 1-5 keys for our primary attacks. And I prefer my single most used atk/ability to be on my 4 key for my Index finger.

Also after 10 years of gaming and using the same types of attacks for 1-5 you kinda wanna keep using that system because you are used to it.

Can you change the position on your hotbar where the abilities are located? I like my most commonly used, spam attack always being on 3 for example, and it has been in every MMO I have played so Im used to it being there. Also I use my index key to mash it which is easier than hitting 1 with my ring finger. I also like my AoE attack being on 4 but it seems most classes have their AoEs on 5. Can you move abilities around or is the only way to rebind them?

You must be new here. I agree with you and I feel your pain, but you're walking on thin ice. There is a dedicated crowd here who believes that their own fine-as-it-is opinion of the current UI should be shared by all, no personalization allowed. Let us hope that Anet is a little more open-minded about the matter as the game matures.

You must be new here. I agree with you and I feel your pain, but you're walking on thin ice. There is a dedicated crowd here who believes that their own fine-as-it-is opinion of the current UI should be shared by all, no personalization allowed. Let us hope that Anet is a little more open-minded about the matter as the game matures.

You must be new here..wait...6 posts. You are new here.

Weapon swapping. This isn't WoW where the only weapons you swap to is a pathetic ranged weapon and use "Generic Shoot Bow/Gun" or to "Fire magic wand missile". Changing weapons completely changes your skill set and those skills are set to specific keys.

If you swap number 3 and 1 sword attacks then your other weapon skills will be out of place as well. Resulting in you having to go in and changing every single weapon combo around so it's not a cluster $%#@.

I'm the type of person where in WoW I had nothing stock on my UI. I read that Anet want's us to play the game not the UI, and I accepted that. And coming from playing the 3 betas and multiple ST's, I came out of it without any problems other than wanting more zoom on my camera. Your first step would be to sit back and evaluate the problem. Then find out if there is a way to cope with it. If not, then don't play it. After all, it's just a game.

Besides, keybinding is faster than mouse clicking(FACT). So why does it matter where the keys are if you can just rebind them? I'm very confused about that.

You must be new here. I agree with you and I feel your pain, but you're walking on thin ice. There is a dedicated crowd here who believes that their own fine-as-it-is opinion of the current UI should be shared by all, no personalization allowed. Let us hope that Anet is a little more open-minded about the matter as the game matures.

6 posts, and telling other people they're new? O_o

It's not "fine-as-it-is" entirely, but I am of the opinion that there's no real need to move abilities around on the action bar, same as there's no real need for it in LoL. This makes it easier to communicate with other people.

I don't need to know what Symbol of Wrath is, and neither do the people I'm talking to. I can instead say "Guardian Greatsword #2" and they will instantly know.

Do you know what Cho'gath's Vorpal Spikes are? If you do, good for you, you're a rarity.
Because it's not his Q. It's his E.

Last edited by DrakeWurrum; 2012-08-25 at 12:46 AM.

I hope you haven't forgotten my role in this little story. I'm the leading man. You know what they say about the leading man? He never dies.

If you give in to your impulses in this world, the price is that it changes your personality in the real world. The player and character are one and the same.

I read that Anet want's us to play the game not the UI, and I accepted that.

This is a nice marketing message, but if the UI is awkward to use it's a meaningless idea for those that don't like the default setup.

Besides, keybinding is faster than mouse clicking(FACT). So why does it matter where the keys are if you can just rebind them? I'm very confused about that.

I need to mouse click abilities most of the time because of a disability. I can't move my hand on my keyboard quickly so I have to choose either to use movement keys or ability keys (in Diablo I put my hand on the numbers, in WoW on the movement keys and I do fine in both.) I can't reach my function keys at all or do shift/ctrl combos. So for me mouse clicking is way faster than trying to move my hand to use keybinds. I know I'm a rare case, but I'm sure there's others out there that have similar considerations.

I need to mouse click abilities most of the time because of a disability. I can't move my hand on my keyboard quickly so I have to choose either to use movement keys or ability keys (in Diablo I put my hand on the numbers, in WoW on the movement keys and I do fine in both.) I can't reach my function keys at all or do shift/ctrl combos. So for me mouse clicking is way faster than trying to move my hand to use keybinds. I know I'm a rare case, but I'm sure there's others out there that have similar considerations.

I take it the Naga wouldn't work for you? O_o

You'd no longer need to make that choice.

I hope you haven't forgotten my role in this little story. I'm the leading man. You know what they say about the leading man? He never dies.

If you give in to your impulses in this world, the price is that it changes your personality in the real world. The player and character are one and the same.

LoL is clearly different characters though, and there is no mid game switching. I admit I only play Swain, Leona and Malphite though.
P.
Im sure Ill get used to the switching, I tend to play games exclusively. Two short stress tests wasnt enough to get used to it. First test I hit lvl8 and second I hit level 9. Different characters.

Well, because of my LOW POST COUNT, I cannot submit this with quotes attached. So I'll just respond as needed.

1. I've spent quite a bit of time reading these forums and other GW2 forums. I'm sorry if my actual post count does not meet some of your lofty standards. My comment to the OP was a warning regarding the fanboy attitude about this topic.

2. Allowing us to change the skill order on screen would obviously require that reordering to be on a per-weapon basis. Otherwise, you are correct, it would not work.

3. This is an MMO not a MOBA like LOL. I also am not concerned about the limited UI required for the MOBA I play. GW2, and any other MMO, has deeper UI requirements.

4. As has been explained before, the reason people want to rearrange the on-screen order is because it matching their layout is more intuitive.

5. "Play the game, not the UI" is cheap marketing copy. Sounds nice, but lacks depth.

The issue is simply inconvienient keybinds that are more complex than neccesary.

I play a ranger and I like use Short Bow/Longbow. I get into a situation where an enemy is closing on me. I currently have Short Bow Equipped so I use Quick Shot (3), the enemy is still closing in so I switch to Longbow and use Point Blank Shot (4).

Now please tell me why I shouldn't be able to re-arrange my skills in such a way that I have both of them underneath 4 and then rebind them both underneath [F] or let's say [X]? Who would suffer from this? Nobody. Customizable UI is a standard today. It's about making UI convienient and easier to use, that's not gaining unfair advantage, that's quality of life improvement.

Originally Posted by Medium9

I'd prefer being shot by a terrorist than living in a country where they serve bread baked with a little cheese and a bottle of ketchup to complete your "pizza margeritha".

Dont see why they wouldnt let you do this. Oh well guess I will just have to rebind.

ANet has never been a fan of people messing with their UI. Basically you can do whatever you want on your end, but leave their stuff alone. :P Truthfully though, you could put skills in whatever order you wanted in GW1.